Left jab, right jab, duck! Left kick, right hook, jump! Right kick, left and right punch combo finished of with a side kick. The tree Sakura had been attacking had noticeably shrunk as chunks of bark had been hacked off of it. She panted as she wiped the sweat off her brow. She had been training for a few hours and her body was beginning to feel the strain.
'Keep going Outer! Cha! We need to keep training! We've been slacking off ever since Yui-obasan and Takumi arrived! We have to take advantage of the fact that they're busy!'
'I understand that Inner..' Sakura sat down. 'I just need a short break..' Her heart was still racing but she had caught her breath. She looked at her knuckles and sighed when she noticed that they were bleeding.
'Don't forget about our feet, cha! They're pretty beat up too!' Sakura groaned. She had taken off her shoes to train since she didn't want to ruin them but it appeared that by saving her shoes she had earnt herself bloody feet.
'I'll have to recover some more of my chakra before I can heal myself..' She thought as she crossed her legs. 'I guess I'll meditate for now..'
The pinkette closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. She calmed her mind, letting any thoughts pass. She excused the thoughts her mind latched onto, simply acknowledging them and then dismissing them. She soon found herself in her mindscape and she and Inner started talking.
"Bleh! Cha! When we get home you're going to need to take a shower, you stink!" Inner's nose wrinkled up as she sniffed her other half. The noisy female stuck her tongue out and turned her head to the side. She pretended to throw up and Sakura sighed, she was all too used to Inner's antics.
"We're in our mindscape.. you can't smell our physical body from here."
".." Inner blinked. "Hmph!" She crossed her arms and sat crossed legged on whatever floor there was in their mindscape.
Outer Sakura yawned, even in their mindscape she was still aware of how sore and tired her body was.
"Y'know, you're pretty stupid Outer. Cha!"
"Huh?" The pinkette's brows furrowed.
"You should of bandaged your hands and feet before meditating." Sakura blinked.
"That probably would of been a good thing to do..."
"No duh!"
After half an hour more of talking about random topics Sakura stopped meditating and exited her mindscape. She blinked a few times to adjust to the sunlight and rubbed her eyes. She hissed as her actions irritated the cuts on her knuckles.
'Dang it..'
The pinkette travelled to the river that was nearby and washed her knuckles in the cool water. Sakura then dipped her feet in the river and watched as the blood washed away. Her cuts stung but she ignored the pain and instead focus on gently drying her hands and feet using her jumper.
She got out a roll of bandages from the dark weapons pouch tied around her waist. It was the same one she had gotten when she bought her weapons. It was a bit too big to be tied round her thigh but she should grow into it in the future.
She grabbed one of her kunai out of her pouch before placing it on the ground beside her. She then grasped the roll of bandages and held the end with her left hand whilst holding the rest of the roll with her other hand. She started bandaging her left hand, her mother had taught how to bandage a wound and she smiled sadly as the memory resurfaced.
~{*.*}~
She had been helping the blonde cook and got distracted by something Inner, who she had still been referring to as 'The voice' at the time. Thanks to her getting distracted she accidentally cut her hand with the knife she had been using to cut up some carrots. Her mother had sat her down and told her to stay seated before hurrying away to fetch the first aid kit.
When the woman returned she talked Sakura through every step as she bandaged her wound. The pinkette memorised every movement her mother made and since then the emerald eyed girl had read several books on first aid.
~{*.*}~
'Oi, Outer! Cha! Pay attention to what you're doing!'
The four year old blinked out of her daze and looked down to see that she had subconsciously finished bandaging her hand. The young pinkette moved onto bandaging her other hand and both her feet.
Once she was done she put the kunai she had used to cut the bandages back into her weapons pouch. She had used up the whole role of bandages so she made a mental note to purchase another roll later on. Sakura stood up and stretched, she put on her baby blue hoodie before walking back to the clearing.
She resumed her training however instead of taijutsu like before the pinkette moved onto practicing her shurikenjutsu. She started off by taking out a kunai and getting into her stance. Sakura threw the weapon, aiming at the tree she had been.. attacking earlier that day.
The weapon hit the tree however it missed the center of the beat up plant and Sakura took out another kunai from her pouch. She was determined to hit the middle of the tree by the end of the day.
The four year old closed her emerald orbs for a moment before opening her eyes again. This time she saw the abused tree as a person. This time she was in a life or death situation and she had to land a hit on him to survive. She took aim, remaining in her stance as she threw her weapon at the man before rapidly pulling out three more kunai. She threw the kunai at the man and blinked when she realised where her weapons had pierced his body.
'..Larynx..subclavian artery.. heart and..'
'Spine.. cha..' Inner finished. 'I- how- what? How did you hit four of the eight kill points? Weren't you trying to hit the center of the tree?'
'Inner.. you probably know more then I do..'
'Oi! Why do you always accuse me of knowing everything? Cha!'
There were a few moments of silence.
'Because you do..' Inner had no response to that and so she stayed silent for the rest of the hour, watching over Sakura's training from their mindscape.
~{*.*}~
The young pinkette whistled as she made her way back home. She had managed to hit two of the kill points each time she threw the six kunai she had. It was a start and Sakura was proud of herself. She had made a plan to return home, heal her wounds and have a shower before having dinner and going to bed. She had also put on her shoes, her bandages were visible but she doubted anyone would notice them.
Her thoughts were interupted when she saw Yui standing on her doorstep.
"Yui-obasan?" She called out to the brunette. Yui turned around and sent the child a small smile.
"Hello Sakura-chan."
"What are you doing here?"
"I just thought I'd come round and check in on you."
"Have you been waiting long?" Sakura hoped she hadn't. The small pinkette felt guilt pool up in her stomach as she waited for Yui's response.
"No, I've only been waiting for about ten minutes! I was actually about to come looking for you." The woman smiled. Sakura nodded her head before moving past the woman, into her house.
"I'm going to have a shower, I'll be down in around ten minutes."
"Alright Sakura-chan!" Just as Sakura was about to rush upstairs Yui asked her a question. "Have you eaten yet?"
"Erm, no."
"Alright I'll cook you something whilst your upstairs!" The four year old opened her mouth to decline Yui's offer but the brunette shooed her up the stairs before the words made their way out her mouth.
Sakura huffed as she entered her room. It really wasn't necessary for Yui to cook for her. She was capable of doing it herself and she already felt guilty for making the older female wait on her own for her.
'Stop moping around! Cha! You need to heal yourself!' The pinkette grumbled but complied none the less.
She got undressed (taking off her bandages as well) and sat down on the floor. She held her feet and took a look at the multiple blisters, cuts and splinters that littered her flesh. The injuries were red and irritated and Sakura winced as she examined them closer.
"..It's worse then I thought.." She whispered quietly to herself.
'No duh! Cha!' Sakura sighed before standing up and getting some tweezers. Once she had them in her possession she sat back down on the floor and started to pick out the splinters from her feet.
It took a while but eventually both her feet were clear of any splinters.
'Now it's time for the hard part..' The youngling inhaled deeply as she hovered both her hands over her right foot. A soft green glow emanated from her hands and the blisters and cuts on her foot slowly started to heal.
A bead of sweat rolled down her face as she dismissed her healing chakra. She examined her foot and was satisfied when she saw that the only thing that remained were tiny silver scars. She smiled triumphantly before moving onto healing her other foot.
Once that was done the child wiped the sweat off her brown and stood up. She slipped on her dressing gown before walking over to the bathroom. She took off her gown, hanging it up on a hook, before turning on the shower and stepping inside.
'What about our hands? Cha!'
'I don't think I'm going to heal them.. at least not yet..'
'Why not?'
'Hm, reasons..'
~{*.*}~
Sakura entered the kitchen squeaky clean, dressed in her blood red pajamas. Her mouth watered as she stared at the food Yui had cooked.
'Udon and kashi pan! Cha!' Inner was parading around their mindscape, instantly growing energised at the sight of food.
"Arigato Yui-obasan! This looks delicious!" Sakura grinned at the female who was sat down at the table. The pinkette flushed in embarrassment when she realised the woman had been waiting for her. 'I took longer then I thought in the shower..'
"It's no problem Sakura-chan! Please sit down and we can start eating."
She sat down at the table and the females both muttered a quiet 'Itadakimasu' before they began eating.
"What did you do today Sakura-chan?" The brunette asked curiously. Sakura swallowed the food in her mouth before answering.
"I just went on a walk around the village.." She knew it was wrong of her to lie and she knew that Yui was trustworthy but the pinkette didn't want the woman to worry. Yui was similar to her mother in the way that they both fussed over her and would most definitely freak out if she told them she wanted to be a ninja.
'Hmph! I don't understand why they would freak out so much, we can do anything! Cha!' Sakura sighed and internally shook her head.
"You alright?" Sakura looked up at the blue eyed woman.
"Hai, I'm fine!" The pinkette smiled.
"Hmm.." Yui frowned. "Sakura-chan.."
"Yes?" The child raised an eyebrow at the change in tone.
"I'm sorry for the late notice but I'm afraid Takumi-kun and I are leaving tomorrow morning." Emerald orbs widened.
"What?" Was she hallucinating? She thought they were going to be staying for at least a few more days.
"Gomen Sakura-chan.. I know it's not ideal but we've received a letter from home and have to return as soon as possible." The pinkette's eyes fell to the floor. "I know it's hard Sakura-chan! I really do! I'm so sorry we're having to leave so soon! I know it's hard losing your parents! Please, I'm sorry!" Tears overflowed in Yui's blue eyes and she stood up from the table before rushing upstairs.
'Do I go after her?'
'Hmm.. maybe give her a moment and if she doesn't come back we can go find her...' Sakura's brows drew together. Inner's voice was a lot softer then usual.
'You ok Inner?' She asked.
'Mhm..' Green eyes narrowed suspiciously.
'Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me something?' Sakura heard her other half sigh.
'..It's complicated..'
'Inner.. please tell me. You're not using your usual cha and it's making me worried.'
'..' Inner stayed silent for a moment before speaking up. 'Ok Outer.. listen up and pay attention to what I'm about to tell you..'
A/N: Hi.. I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who is reading and supporting my work!
I may edit this chapter and change a few things here and there but we'll see.
I really hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Please review, I really appreciate it!
Sorry for any mistakes!
Hope you enjoyed!